Indiana doctor sentenced over illegal painkillers

November 15, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A psychiatrist has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for illegally dispensing painkillers. Adolfo P. Hernandez, 67, of Noblesville had pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully dispensing the painkiller Percocet, generically known as oxycodone, a Schedule II Controlled Substance. He was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison said in a news release. Hernandez was arrested in March and charged with eight counts of unlawfully dispensing the painkiller after undercover police obtained prescriptions for oxycodone and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, authorities said. Morrison said the doctor did not conduct medical examinations and created no medical records at his Broad Ripple office, which apparently had no medical staff. U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton also ordered the forfeiture of Hernandez' $500,000 home and other property and ordered him to spend six months of supervised release after he leaves prison. Morrison said Hernandez' Indiana medical license is suspended.